NS/Southern James River Bridge in Richmond, VA

(Bridge Hunter; Satellite)

Larry Jenkins posted two photos with the comment: "Built by Southern Railway, the Norfolk Southern James River Bridge in Richmond is 2,000 feet long. On the other side of the river, the tracks turn right and lead to the lower section of the Triple Crossing. Above the tree line to the right is the red-tiled roof of the “Richmond Main Street Station”. This is the view of “The Vista’s”, my condo from across the river."

[I changed the order of the photos so that the bridge would be first.]

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Dennis DeBruler commented on Larry's post
While looking at a satellite map, I noticed that both ends go through a floodwall. How often is the route out-of-service because gates had to be installed to close the floodwall?
The north end: https://goo.gl/maps/6MQqdHKukSNAd2uQ7

Larry Jenkings commented on Dennis' comment
I've only been here a year and they closed it once for a short period for yearly maintenance. There are actually three gates on the Norfolk Southern, one is across the river on the south shore. The second level of the Triple Crossing on the CSX Line also has one on the southern shore.

I was confused by the Bridge Hutner photos because some photos showed a girder bridge and others showed a truss bridge. Then I learned that the bridge has both types of spans. Over half the length of the bridge consists of girder spans, but the middle has truss spans.

3D Satellite

A lot of the bridge is hidden by trees.

Street View

Street View

And some of the spans are arches.

Street View

Judging by the transition from cut stone to concrete in some of the piers, it appears this part of the bridge used to have deck trusses. The 100% concrete piers indicate that the girder spans are half the length of the original deck truss spans.

Nov 2017 Photo by Royce and Bobette Haley via BridgeHunter